Animated greeting card



Dec. 31, 1968 A. L. MARGOLIS 3,418,748

ANIMATED GREETING CARD Filed May 11, 1965 Fig; 6

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United States Patent 3,418,748 ANIMATED GREETING CARD Alan L. Margolis,South Euclid, Ohio, assignor to American Greetings Corporation,Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed May 11, 1965, Ser. No.454,891 1 Claim. (Cl. 46-34) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An animated cardis made up of superimposed front and back panels hinged together along afolded line. A pivotal movable element is sandwiched in-between the backpanel and a rear cover panel. Tabs cut out of the back panel projectthrough an aperture in the movable element to form a pivot for themovable element. A pull strip is glued to the back side of the frontpanel on its one end and is connected to the projecting leg of themovable element at its other end through a slit in the back panel. Themovable element is completely hidden between the back panel and the rearcover panel when the card is closed, but when the card is opened theimage portion of the movable element is pivoted into view beyond theedge of the card.

This invention relates to folded cards having movable elementsresponsiveto the unfolding thereof and has particular application to animatedgreeting cards.

A primary object of the invention is the provision of an article of theaforesaid nature which is characterized by its structural simplicity,its inexpensive manufacturing costs, the ease of assembly of its parts,the attractive forms in which it may be made, and the particularlyeffective manner in which it performs its function.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide ananimated folded card having a movable element which appears unexpectedlywhen the card is unfolded.

Another object of the invention is to provide an animated greeting cardwherein upon opening the card, the movable element appears unexpectedlyfrom a side edge of the card.

Still another object is to provide a greeting card having the abovefeatures wherein the movable element will normally make contact with thehand of a person unfolding the card.

Further objects of the present invention and a number of its advantageswill be referred to in or will be evident from the following descriptionof one embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 1 of the drawings is a front elevation of a folded greeting card.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the greeting card of FIG. 1 in theunfolded position.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the greeting card as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the greeting card as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a back elevation of the greeting card as shown in FIG. 1, aportion of one panel thereof being broken away.

FIG. 6 is a back elevation of the greeting card as shown in FIG. 2, aportion of one panel thereof being broken away.

FIG. 7 is a section taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 5.

Before the article illustrated is specifically described, it is to beunderstood that the invention here involved is not limited to thedetails or arrangement of parts shown since greeting cards embodying thepresent invention may take various forms. It is also to be under-3,418,748 Patented Dec. 31, 1968 stood that the phraseology orterminology herein employed is for the purpose of description and not oflimitation since the scope of the present invention is denoted by theappended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, the present invention as herein describedand illustrated is embodied in a greeting card 10 preferably made fromheavy paper or light cardboard and comprising a front panel 11, a backpanel 12, and a rear cover panel 13 (FIG. 3). The panels 11-13 are allof vertically elongated rectangular shape with the front panel 11 beingfolded forwardly from left to right along a vertical fold line 14 andthe rear cover panel 13 being folded rearwardly from right to left alonga fold line 15, as seen from the front of the greeting card 10. As seenfrom the top, the card is folded in the form of a reversed S with eachof the panels being of substantially the same width.

The front face of the front panel 11 (FIG. 1), in the form of theinvention herein illustrated, is provided with pictorial or othergraphic material, as designated at 16, and a suitable legend or greeting17 incorporating the idea Keep in touch. The greeting may be worded inany suitable way, but for the purpose of illustrating one embodiment ofthe invention preferably includes the word touch.

The inner face of the front panel 11 carries an elongated, rectangularpull strip 20 having an end mounting portion 21 which is adhesivelysecured to said front panel a short distance away from the fold line 14.The remainder of the pull strip 20 comprises a flap 22 which is hingedto the mounting portion 21 along a vertical fold line 23. With thegreeting card 10 in the open position and as seen from the front (FIG.2), the flap 22 projects a substantial distance beyond the fold line 14in the direction of the back panel 12 and projects through a verticalslit 25 in said back panel whereby the distal end portion of said flapis disposed behind said back panel. The arrangement is such that whenthe greeting card 10 is closed (FIG. 1), the flap 22 extends furtherinto or through the slit 25, and when said greeting card is open, saidflap is partially retracted from behind the back panel 12. Thus, theclosing and opening movements of the card cause a horizontalreciprocating movement of the flap 22 between the position shown in FIG.5 and that shown in FIG. 6.

The rear cover panel 13 is preferably adhesively secured along itsdistal, vertical edge portion to the back panel 12 adjacent to the foldline 14 as indicated at 13a (FIGS. 3 and 4). A movable element 30 issandwiched in-between the back panel 12 and the rear cover panel 13, aportion of said movable element being adapted to project outwardlybeyond the right-hand edge of the greeting card 10 through a slot 15a inthe fold line 15. Said movable element comprises a body portion 31having an upper image portion 32 and a downwardly directed leg 33. Saidmovable element is preferably cut from a piece of heavy paper or lightcardboard, and the image portion 32, as herein illustrated, depicts apointing hand with an index finger directed downwardly when said movableelement is in the projected or extended position (FIGS. 2, 4 and 6). Thebody portion 31 of the movable element 30 is provided with a circularaperture 35, and the back panel 12 is provided with two generallysemicircular tabs 36 which are cut out of said back panel, projectedthrough the aperture 35, and disposed behind the body portion 31 (FIG.7). The pair of tabs 36 project horizontally in opposite directions awayfrom each other and serve as a pivot whereby the movable element 30 canbe pivoted from completely inside the card between the panels 12 and 13(FIG. 5) to a position whereby at least a substantial portion of the 3image portion 32 projects laterally outwardly beyond the fold line 15(FIG. 6).

The movable element 30 is pivoted by the straight line, horizontalmotion of the flap 22, said movable element being connected to said flapby the leg 33 projecting through a horizontal slot 38 adjacent to thedistal end edge of said flap. The lower end of the leg 33 is providedwith a toe like projection 39 which projects horizontally beyond theslot 38 and prevents disengagement therefrom by said leg when themovable element 30 is in the fully retracted position (FIG.

The operation of the animated greeting card of this invention and themanner in which the movable element 30 complements the legend orgreeting 17 will be readily understandable from the foregoing. Theperson receiving the card normally examines it in the position shown inFIG. 1 and at that time reads the greeting which, in the form of theinvention illustrated, includes the idea Keep in touch. The next thingwhich the receiver naturally does is to open the front panel 11 bypivoting it forwardly from right to left in the normal manner of openinga book, folder or the like. The opening of the front panel 11 causeshorizontal movement of the flap 22 thereby pivoting the movable element30 from the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIGS. 2, 4and 6. The person receiving the card will normally hold it in his righthand adjacent to the lower right hand corner for viewing purposes, andthis will cause the image portion 32 to touch the persons hand or fingerwith the index finger of said image portion. In this manner, the themeof the card as represented by the graphic material 16 and/ or the legendor greeting 17 is unexpectedly and humorously carried out by a physicaltouching of the receiver. It will be readily understood that otherthemes and motifs may be applied to a card of the construction hereindescribed wherein an image unexpectedly appears at the edge of the cardadjacent to the receivers hand.

It will further be understood that many changes in the details of theinvention as herein described and illustrated maybe made without,however, departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. An animated card comprising a single piece of sheet material having aportion folded forwardly from the lefthand edge along a vertical foldline to provide a front panel and having another portion foldedrearwardly from the right-hand edge along a vertical fold line toprovide a rear panel, an intermediate panel being provided between saidfold line; means defining a slot in said righthand fold line; a movablemember having an image portion at one end thereof disposed out-of-sightbetween said intermediate panel and said rear panel when said frontpanel is closed; means providing an aperture in said movable member; tabmeans cut out of said intermediate panel and projecting through andbehind said movable member to provide a pivot therefor; a pull striphingedly carried on the rear surface of said front panel at a pointspaced away from said left-hand fold line, said pull strip projectingthrough a vertical slit in said intermediate panel and attached to saidmovable member; said pull strip being adapted to pivot said movablemember whereby upon opening of said front panel, said image portion iscaused to project through said slot and appear unexpectedly at theright-hand edge of said card.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,139,643 5/1915 Cross 46342,372,349 3/ 1945 Zaffo 4636 2,168,025 8/1939 Franke 46-36 2,749,657 6/1956 Lohnes 46-34 2,844,898 7/1958 Youngren 40126 LOUIS G. MANCENE,Primary Examiner.

S. NATIER, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 40124. 1

